Know Smoking: The Whole Truth About Smoking and Quitting

Jane M. Wilson is a Toronto-based chartered financial analyst in the
investment business.

There is much to be said for a self-improvement guide without the usual
hectoring and homilies on self-love. Know Smoking is a dialogue between
the fictional Dr. Borenot and his patient, Joe K. Hamel, who has no
particular desire to relinquish either his tobacco job or his smoking
habit. Rather than preaching a sermon, Dr. Borenot approaches his task
like a champion debater, with abundant information on health effects,
nicotine metabolism, stress and weight control, nicotine replacements,
and so forth. With sometimes humorous parables and cartoons, he also
examines the tobacco industry’s actions and dissects the reasons for
smoking. Over the course of conversation, Joe is gradually converted to
the nonsmoking camp. Given the target audience, the more immediate
gratifications of quitting, such as improved physical ability, might be
more persuasive than the usual hoary, incommensurable statistics, many
of which are grating to the ear of the intellectually rigorous. Adults
may find Know Smoking a bit puerile, but its temperate and uncriticizing
attitude is perfect for preteen and teenaged readers.